THEA 380: Set Design (Prof. Colleen Ballance)

Comprehensive guide to designing scenery of all kinds for a wide variety of stages, large and small. From concept to final dress rehearsal and performance, it takes you through the practical process of turning initial ideas and sketches into final sets that enhance the audience's understanding of the play as well as providing a memorable experience in their own right. Many photographs of stage sets designed by the author are included, together with explanatory illustrations, stage plans, technical drawings, models, and color renderings for a wide range of productions.

"Provides a stimulating and categorical foundation for a serious international discourse on design. Authors from Japan, Austria, England, Germany, Australia, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the United States, and elsewhere have written original articles for this design dictionary. Their cultural differences provide perspectives for a shared understanding of central design categories and communicating about design. The volume includes both the terms in use in current discussions, some of which are still relatively new, as well as classics of design discourse"--Publisher's description.

If one does not know who a snuff-boy was or how his job related to stage lighting, or needs to understand the difference between motivated light and motivating light, the answers can be found in the more than 1500 detailed entries of this encyclopedia, which is ideal for students, teachers, lighting technicians, lighting designers and all others who have an interest in stage lighting. Some of the numerous topics covered are equipment, methods, concepts, design process, electricity, characteristics of light, and lightboard operations. Where applicable, entries present both the historical and current day significance of the apparatus or concept being introduced. In addition, the many areas of stage lighting that elicit debate are viewed from all angles and the various options presented. This approach will allow the reader to make a personal evaluation of the most appropriate method. Entries are extensively cross-referenced. Computer-generated line drawings and samples of lighting paperwork are included with the entries to which they relate.

"Offers illustrations to demonstrate techniques visually; fundamentals on topics such as beauty, time periods, black and white film; and up-to-date information on cutting-edge techniques like air brushing makeup for computer-generated movies, makeup effects, mold-making, lighting, and lots of information on how to work effectively in HD"--From Publisher's description.

"Is the standard one-volume source on our national theatre. Critics have hailed its 'wealth of authoritative information' (Back Stage), its 'fascinating picture of the volatile American stage' (The Guardian), and its 'well-chosen, illuminating facts' (Newsday). Now thoroughly revised, this distinguished volume once again provides an up-to-date guide to the American stage from its beginnings to the present. Completely updated by theater professor Thomas Hischak, the volume includes playwrights, plays, actors, directors, producers, songwriters, famous playhouses, dramatic movements, and much more. The book covers not only classic works (such as Death of a Salesman) but also many commercially successful plays (such as Getting Gertie's Garter), plus entries on foreign figures that have influenced our dramatic development (from Shakespeare to Beckett and Pinter). New entries include recent plays such as Angels in America and Six Degrees of Separation, performers such as Eric Bogosian and Bill Irwin, playwrights like David Henry Hwang and Wendy Wasserstein, and relevant developments and issues including AIDS in American theatre, theatrical producing by Disney, and the rise in solo performance"--Publisher's Descripton.

"Presents the plays and personages, movements and institutions, and cultural developments of the American stage from 1930 to 2010, a period of vast and almost continuous change"--Publisher's description.

African American Theater is a vibrant and unique entity enriched by ancient Egyptian rituals, West African folklore, and European theatrical practices. A continuum of African folk traditions, it combines storytelling, mythology, rituals, music, song, and dance with ancestor worship from ancient times to the present. It afforded black artists a cultural gold mine to celebrate what it was like to be an African American in the New World. The A to Z of African American Theater celebrates nearly 200 years of black theater in the United States, identifying representative African American theater-producing organizations and chronicling their contributions to the field from its birth in 1816 to the present. This is done through a chronology, an introductory essay, a bibliography, and over 500 cross-referenced dictionary entries on actors, directors, playwrights, plays, theater producing organizations, themes, locations, and theater movements and awards.

"Covers styles and movements, buildings, organizations, regions and traditions; it has a particularly strong focus on biographies of actors, playwrights, directors, and designers"--Publisher's description.

This authoritative encyclopedia differs from others in highlighting the interdisciplinary nature of drama by placing playwrights and plays within their social, cultural, and historical contexts. Over 450 leading scholars provide students, general readers, and scholars with clearly written and concise entries that steer clear of technical jargon while also offering advanced readers new perspectives on familiar figures, movements, trends, issues, and texts.

Covers theatre in more than 30 countries, from India to Uzbekistan, from Thailand to New Zealand. Features extensive documentation on contemporary Chinese, Japanese, Indian and Australian theatre.

"This collection focuses on contemporary dramaturgical practice, bringing together contributions not only from academics but also from prominent working dramaturgs. The inclusion of both means a strong level of engagement with current issues in dramaturgy, from the impact of social media to the ongoing centrality of interdisciplinary and intermedial processes"--Publisher's description.